


Common Ground

by eyesasblackasthevoid



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 00:31:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13306608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eyesasblackasthevoid/pseuds/eyesasblackasthevoid
Summary: Nienna slowly lets her guard down around Zevran as the two get to know each other in the weeks following his recruitment.





	Common Ground

Zevran winced as he unwrapped the bandages from around his chest in order to redress the wound. Morrigan wasn’t much of a healer, so the injuries Nienna inflicted upon him at their first meeting would have to heal mostly on their own.

“I’ve got to give you credit, warden,” He commented as he inspected the state of the wounds. “You certainly did a number on me. I suppose tales of your order’s prowess aren’t exaggerated, no?”

Nienna said nothing, her attention apparently focused on the already roaring fire she was aimlessly poking with a stick. Her mabari, Caspian, sat beside her watching the assassin intently. It was clear through the hound’s protective alertness that neither he nor his mistress trusted Zevran yet. If that weren’t obvious enough, he knew she could hear him, and had deliberately chosen to ignore him.

“Ah, giving me the silent treatment, then? I don’t see much need for that. If you do recall you were the one who wanted me here. And if I’m here you’re going to have to trust me. How are you ever to trust me if we aren’t even on speaking terms?”

“Fine.” She said, a long sigh preceding the word, “But I’m not sure what we could talk about. I can’t imagine you and I have much in common.”

“We could have plenty in common, you never know. And I do find myself curious about one thing.”

“Just the one?”

“For now,” He assured her with a short chuckle, “I must know, who taught you to fight like that?”

She gave her answer without averting her eyes from the flames. “I’m Dalish, as if that wasn’t obvious. So my clan taught me. Mostly my father. He passed on the basics before he was killed. I built on those lessons from there.”

“If you picked up your technique from him, he must’ve been quite skilled indeed. If you don’t mind me asking, how was he killed then?”

There was a pause before she spoke, making it evident that she didn’t really want to answer. Thinking about her father’s death was something she hadn’t done in a long time, and she didn’t exactly want to revisit that day. After all, who would?

Part of her wanted to tell Zevran to mind his own business, that she was done talking, but then yet another sigh broke her silence and she told him.

“Bandits raided our camp when I was about ten. I’ll spare you the details, I’m sure you can imagine the specifics yourself.”

“Oh, I am sorry, for what little my sympathy surely means to you anyhow. What of your mother?”

“I never knew her. She died giving birth to me. I was raised by the elders of our clan after my father’s death.”

“Well, there it is.”

“What?” She demanded, finally looking up from the fire and over at him.

“Common ground. My birth took my mother’s life as well.”

“Great,” She scoffed, “We both inadvertently killed our mothers. I guess that makes us best friends then, doesn’t it?”

He shrugged, “It’s a start.”

As the following days, then weeks, passed, Zevran was the one to initiate any conversations the two had. Nienna didn’t mind for it helped the time to pass as they traveled. Their boots falling in step as they swapped stories.

Soon she found that she enjoyed talking with him. She allowed herself to laugh at his jokes and blush at his compliments and flirtations, of which there were many. Given, she had less control over the latter.

He noticed this, of course, as her every reaction was exactly what he was aiming for. Slowly but surely, she was warming up to him, not that she’d ever admit to it outright. A particular brand of stubbornness that he found endearing, though not the only she possessed.

His inquiries centered mostly around her Dalish upbringing. To which she eventually asked him, “Why are you so interested in how my clan and I lived?”

Zevran went on to explain that his mother was Dalish. How the only thing he’d ever had of hers were a pair of gloves made by her clan. Crow recruits weren’t allowed to have such things, and once they were discovered he never saw them again.

It was then when Nienna was reminded of the Dalish gloves she’d found in the Brecilian forest. She wasn’t sure why she had felt inclined to take them. She had a fine set already and in truth there wasn’t nothing special about this particular pair. Maybe this was why, maybe the Creators had guided them into her hands to pass onto someone who’d appreciate them.

“Like these?” She asked after rummaging through her things to find them.

He took the gloves from her, and after a moment of inspecting them she noticed a subtle curl to his lips as he held them. “Maker’s breath, these are almost just like hers. The leather was less thick and had more embroidery, but these are very close.”

He went to hand them back to her, but she shook her head, “Keep them.”

“You’re just…giving them to me?”

“Why not? Better to give them to you then let them sit in my pack.”

“Thank you. I mean it,” The tone of his words backed up the insisted genuineness of them, with a smile to match as well.

“It’s nothing really.” She assured him hoping that he wouldn’t read too much into the gesture. Yet at the same time, also hoped it would serve as a sign that she trusted him. Or was beginning to, anyhow. She no longer feared a blade in the back or poison in her food.

At least not from him.


End file.
